ESIC hospital to be upgraded to super speciality hospital

By our Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Jan 6: The Centre has decided to convert ESIC Model Hospital, Beltola in Guwahati into a Super Speciality Hospital and draw a roadmap to bring medical facilities of the plantation workers under the ambit of Employees State Insurance Corporation (ESIC).

Announcing this at a regiol conference of Labour Ministers of the Northeast in Guwahati on Thursday Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Labour and Employment Bandaru Dattatreya said that considering Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal's request his Ministry has decided convert  Model Hospital, Beltola into a super specaility hospital to look after the advanced medical needs of the workers. He also assured to upgrade the hospital into a 100-bed hospital. The minister also said that the Centre would extend the medical facilities to the plantation workers under ESIC and all the districts of the Northeast would be brought under the domain of ESIC.

Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal, iugurating the regiol conference of State Labour Ministers, asked for Centre's intervention for setting up of more super speciality hospitals for the workers. Moreover, Sonowal also requested to upgrade the dispensaries into 50-bed hospitals catering to the medical needs of the tea garden areas.

Emphasizing that without the development of the plantation workers the overall development of Assam is not possible, Sonowal reiterated the need of bringing the tea garden areas and plantation workers into the Government's agenda of priorities. Referring to various problems faced by plantation workers, Sonowal maintained that the Plantation Labour Act will be extensively used to address these problems. He also said that the banning of high denomition currency gave a fillip to bring the unbanked garden population into the banking foray thereby giving a boost to the government's objective of 'inclusive growth'.

Union Labour Minister Bandaru Dattatreya conceding to Chief Minister's demands gave his ministry's nod on subsequently upgrading the dispensaries into hospitals. He also lauded Assam Government's handling of post demonetization period in the State especially tea garden areas and ebling the plantation workers to resort to cashless transactions. Union Minister also said that demonetisation is a bold step of the Centre which has the potential of tackling corruption, the mece of middleman and developing Assam into a robust economic fulcrum.

Minister of Labour and Employment Pallab Lochan Das, Labour Minister from Meghalaya, Secretary of Labour and Employment Government of India M Sathiyavathy, senior ministers from different States of the Northeast were present at the conference.